


Not Again

by PixeledPurple



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst, Fix-It, Happy Ending, M/M, MECH, Rescue Missions, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 00:50:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4983463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixeledPurple/pseuds/PixeledPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during Crossfire.  Knock Out is not willing to accept that Breakdown is dead.  And if he is, he's going to make someone pay.</p>
<p>Fix-it fic, because Breakdown should die like that!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).



> For Rivulet027 who I am at least partially responsible for getting into this fandom in the first place, and who just watched Crossfire for the first time and had the same feels we all did.

"What do you mean he didn't come back?" Knock Out demanded, trying to keep his voice even.

"Megatron sent us to take care of Airachnid-"

"I know where he went Dreadwing!" he snapped. "What do you mean he didn't come back?"

"He took off after Airachnid by himself. Unfortunately, his signal has gone offline. And," he paused just for a moment, "I regret to advise that I was unable to locate Breakdown's remains," Dreadwing said, sounding honestly remorseful.

But Knock Out hardly cared.

He flinched at the word 'remains' and promptly shut off the connection without bothering with a response.

No.

"Breakdown?" he tried, using their private comm channel. It was one Breakdown wouldn't ignore. "Breakdown answer me!"

No answer.

He nearly ran to the other side of the room. No, this was not happening.

He had almost lost Breakdown once already. To the humans at that. He hadn't known that Breakdown had been captured until he had come limping into the medbay, in desperate need of repairs. He had been furious at Megatron, and Starscream, and everyone on the ship who had known what had happened and not told him.

But he had made damned sure that would never happen again. Mech had disabled Breakdown's comm then, preventing him from calling for help. So in the event that this ever happened again, Knock Out had installed an emergency beacon in Breakdown complete with a tracking device.

What the slag did Dreadwing mean he couldn't find him?! They had gone off together to some remote corner of this planet. Exactly how far could Breakdown have gone? He glared at the monitor impatiently as it searched for the signal from the tracking device. It was independently powered, so it would be transmitting no matter what.

Finally, a red dot appeared on the monitor. It was moving. Fast. Knock Out got a sinking feeling in his tanks. If Breakdown was capable of moving on his own power, he would have answered his comm. The Nemesis would be able to trace his signal. He took a second to note the coordinates, then commed Soundwave.

"Soundwave, I need a groundbridge to these coordinates."

The reply came back in text form, which was no surprise for Soundwave. ::Reason for request?::

"Slaggit Soundwave just do it!" snapping at Soundwave really wasn't a good idea, but he didn't have time to explain himself. If Soundwave refused he could use the ship's groundbridge, but the controls were two decks down. He couldn't afford to waste time when Breakdown's life was concerned. He felt a pang of fear at the thought that it might already be too late. But he pushed it down, forcing himself to ignore it.

To his relief, a vortex of light opened in front of him. He transformed, accelerating to top speed by the time his tires hit asphalt.

He found himself driving head on towards a convoy of three trucks, any one of them big enough to be hiding Breakdown.

Knock Out drove straight towards the lead truck. He knew from experience that human drivers would flinch before he would, soldiers or not, this would be no different.

The gap between him and the larger vehicle closed quickly. Just as he started to get concerned that he might just be wrong about this, the driver finally swerved.

Knock Out transformed, launching himself up. He landed on the roof, his weight pushing the truck off balance, and sending it skidding down the road on its side. He hoped that wasn't the truck that carried Breakdown.

The other two slammed on the breaks in an effort to avoid a collision. Unfortunately for them, the second truck didn't quite have enough time to stop, and slammed into the first with a sound of crushing metal.

Knock Out directed his attention to the third truck. It had stopped safely a short distance away, and the humans inside were currently likely to be the biggest threat. By the time they had come out with their guns, Knock Out had his energon prod in hand and was charging forward.

The human's bullets stung, but he knew they wouldn't cause any serious damage. And, for Breakdown, he was willing to risk his finish. He used his weapon to deflect some of the bullets aimed towards his face, then swung it at the humans when he got near enough.

The force of the blow alone was enough to send them flying down the road, unmoving once they hit the asphalt. There had only been three of them in the last truck. Knock Out knew that there would be more humans coming from the other two. 

But he had to find Breakdown. He ran to the back of the truck, looking inside.

The energon drained from his faceplates at what he saw. He had seen bots disassembled before. He had done the disassembling himself plenty of times. Happily so, in fact. He was not exactly squeamish.

But seeing Breakdown laying in the truck, his frame in pieces, it was all he could do to not purge his tanks. "Breakdown," he said, barely above a whisper, slowly reaching out towards him.

Then he felt the bullets stinging his plating again.

He tore his gaze away from Breakdown to look back at them. If looks could kill, the humans would have all dropped dead on the spot. Instead, they kept firing. They were close to their vehicles, using the trucks as cover, surely expecting him to shoot back.

Knock Out didn't have any means of shooting at them, not that he needed it. He glared at them, imagining just how he was going to pull apart each and every one of these humans.

But then he saw something flicker in the corner of his optic. He looked back towards the truck. Breakdown's chest plates were cracked open, it took him a moment, but through the crack, he could just barely see a faint pulse of light.

"Breakdown," Knock Out gasped. It was his spark. He was still alive.

Something larger, and stronger than a regular bullet hit his arm and pierced through the plating. Knock Out hissed, then looked back at the humans. As much fun as dismantling them piece by piece would be, if he had any hope of saving Breakdown, he didn't have time for that.

He could see the underside of the overturned truck, and, primitive as the Earth vehicle may be, he recognized a fuel tank when he saw it.

He reactivated his energon prod, setting it to full power, and launched it at the truck.

The humans ducked for cover, surely thinking it was aimed at them. When it pierced the metal and stuck in the truck, they had just enough time to realize their mistake before the electricity sparked through the energon prod and ignited the fuel tank.

Both trucks, and the humans hiding between them were enveloped in an impressive explosion. Knock Out watched just for a moment to make sure nothing had survived, as the explosion faded into a cloud of black smoke, fed by the flames licking at the wreckage.

"Soundwave, I need a groundbridge to the medbay. I have Breakdown," he said into his comm.

A bridge opened almost immediately, and Knock Out started to carefully pull his partner from the truck.

***

Breakdown onlined slowly. His systems all slow to respond. Finally, he was able to bring his optic online. The first thing he saw was Knock Out.

"Easy," the other said gently, as he tried to move. "I was barely able to piece you back together you know."

Breakdown tried to speak, but all he managed was static. He reset his vocalizer once, twice. "What happened?" he finally managed, after the third time.

"You did something stupid and nearly got yourself killed," Knock Out told him. There was none of the usual bite to his words though. He sounded tired.

"Knock Out," he said after a moment.

"Yeah, Breakdown?"

Breakdown realized that Knock Out was holding his servo. He looked down at them for a moment, then back up to Knock Out. "What happened to your finish?" he asked finally.

Knock Out blinked, looking somewhat confused, then he looked down at his own frame, which was riddled with dents and scratches, and a few holes from whatever weapon the humans had had.

Knock Out actually laughed. "Don't worry Breakdown. You can help me buff this out later," he said, giving his partner's servo a squeeze.

**Author's Note:**

> If Hollywood can have cars explode by being shot at, than Knock Out can blow up a car with his energon prod, k?


End file.
